The invention relates to devices that assist people as they rise up from a seated position in a chair, more particularly to assists which are removably separate from the chair structure.
Many persons have difficulty rising from a seated position, because of an infirmity due to illness, advanced age, or other debilitation. This becomes of especial concern when chairs and couches are used, as the individual may be deeply seated in the cushioning, aggravating any difficulty in getting up.
Devices for assisting persons rising from a seated position are generally of two types. One type utilizes a mechanism within the seat itself which actually lifts up as the person rises from a seated position, thereby assisting him or her. These devices are expensive and only help people when they sit in those particular pieces of furniture that include the lifting mechanism. The other type, which encompasses the class of inventions to which the present invention appertains, utilizes a handle means to permit the seated person to grab hold of and pull on while rising. These devices have the advantage that they are not connected to any particular piece of furniture, and so may be employed wherever the individual may be seated.
Prior assist devices, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,041,636 to Twedt, 3,272,530 to Klasses, and 4,157,593 to Kristensson, are rather complicated and are more particularly directed to infirm persons who are generally non-ambulatory, in that a retaining structure is provided to prevent the user from falling out of the device and dolly whells are provided for locomotion.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an assist for seated persons to aid in helping them rise in the form of an inexpensive, portable, foldable, simple device provided with easily reachable handles for the user to grab hold of while rising.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide an assist to seated persons having handles to grab hold of enabling them to more easily rise, while maintaining simultaneously an unobstructed pathway through which users may walk while entering or leaving the immediate vicinity of the seat.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an assist to seated persons so that they may more easily rise that works efficiently with any type of seating, be that a chair, sofa, bed, or other structure on which a person may sit.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an assist for seated persons to aid them while rising which includes means to stabilize it against pitching up while the user pulls on the handles.
These and additional objects, advantages, features, and benefits of the invention will become apparent from the following specification.